


Book XIX - The Sun

by niawen



Series: Heartblind: Apprentice Erin Canon Run [7]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Adventure & Romance, F/M, Light Whump, Mutual Pining, Novelization, Other, Shippy Gen, Whump, source-appropriate violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:55:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27901840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niawen/pseuds/niawen
Summary: The truth will out, one way or another.
Relationships: Apprentice/Muriel (The Arcana)
Series: Heartblind: Apprentice Erin Canon Run [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2043058
Kudos: 1





	Book XIX - The Sun

**Author's Note:**

> Muriel needs her to know and he can face whatever comes next with some degree of levelheadedness.

The gravity of what was coming weighed on Erin like a physical burden, sapping her energy and putting a tremor in her hands. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to lead the charge- of course she did, and with Muriel at her side no less. More than that, it was the right thing to do and while she certainly didn’t think she was the only person who could, she was shrewd enough to see that Nadia was using them as a rallying point for the rest of the soldiers, bolstered by the tales of their impossible journey. It was inspiring and while she wasn’t sure how she felt about that personally, she was well aware of what high morale could do for their cause.

Even though the taste of Salty Bitters still throbbed in her mouth like so many bee stings, she was listening to Julian, Nazali, and Muriel somewhat detachedly, still trying to calm the war between her own rational mind and her overactive anxiety. The steadiness to Muriel’s voice was somewhat soothing, considering what they had been through these last harrowing hours. He was, as usual, an incredibly grounding presence. His determination and focus after exiting the magical realms into the shambles of Vesuvia had kept Erin moving forward as well… She couldn’t help but be impressed with how far he’d come. How long ago they’d faced Lucio and Vulgora in Tarske and he wanted to give up.

She didn’t realize he was excusing them to bed until he was leaning close to her ear. “I… need to talk to you. If...?” he said lowly. She turned, a little startled, but smiled. He looked flushed- normal- but also a little stony, determined even. Less normal. Paired with the general anxiety someone seriously asking to speak usually caused, there was something new in his face that made her heart pound a little harder than necessary.

She nodded, trying to keep the sudden worry out of her face, covering it with a sheepish smile when he held out a hand to her. The gesture calmed her somewhat and she took it happily, following him deeper into the woods and away from the noises surrounding his hut.

But his hand was sweaty and his knit brows gave away that he was deep in thought. His pace was quick, though not hurried, and she was able to follow if she didn't let herself get distracted by her surroundings. By the time the faintest magical essence started to resonate in her core, she already knew where they were headed. Without even thinking about it, he stepped over a huge fallen log and waited for her, still holding her hand as she crossed over the threshold into the epicenter of the forest. Where Lucio had murdered the Peryton, where he had injured Muriel in the act of trying to protect it, where Erin’s thread of memories concerning him had begun, all those months ago on that one night. It was as good a “first encounter” spot as any, she supposed and she eventually pulled her curious eyes away from the fantastic plants flourishing here to Muriel’s taller form…

But something was tight in his face and she felt a reciprocal chill travel down her spine. Before she could get the words out he moved further into the clearing, casting about with restless eyes until he was outright pacing. At first Erin had been slightly entertained by his terseness back at the camp but now… something gnawed at her and she found it difficult to swallow. “Hey,” she said softly, “what’s wrong?” She couldn’t help but feel something _was_ wrong, given his expression and tense posture. She immediately felt her guts clench, fearing the worst. Fearing he was going to tell her whatever they had needed to end, that it was a distraction during a conflict like this, that he had some suicide plan cooked up and was about to tell her not to sabotage it ( _like hell_ , she thought stubbornly). After another few moments of watching him pace and she couldn’t take it anymore. “Muriel,” she tried again, feeling something cold in her chest despite the relative warmth of the night air around them. The sound of his name, this time, was enough to get him to turn. His face was tense with nervousness and he was fidgeting with one of his sleeves. “What is it?”

He turned around fully and dropped his hands, though they did clench for a second before releasing with a slightly jagged breath. To her mounting wariness he came closer (nervously) and gently grabbed her biceps, pulling her to the side a pace and down with him as he lowered himself to sit on a fallen log, peppered liberally with glowing mushrooms. Erin felt that this was surely a sign that something serious was on his mind and she felt that cold press in her stomach again- they still weren’t matched in height but their eyes were almost on the same level now and she swallowed nervously.

There was a second of change that happened too quickly for her to process. He searched her face, eyes as green as they could possibly be, his flush took on a softer, flustered quality and the knit to his brows released. And like his face, when he spoke his voice was nervous but not afraid, comforted by his honest need to say it. 

“I love you.”

She barely reacted- she couldn’t, her brain had sort of gotten stuck. Her lips parted and her eyebrows nearly disappeared into her typically-unruly hair. But words, real processing, higher brain function in general were just… stuck. She stared at him, stared at his carved, intense features… He didn’t even look nervous really. Shy, yes, maybe a little embarrassed, but it was obvious that regardless of anything else, he was only putting words to his truth.

He leaned in more so that they were just about level and he squeezed her arms, hoping to instill some sense of how much he meant it. “I love you,” he said again. Deliberately. Earnestly. Almost stubbornly.

He didn’t elaborate and he didn’t explain further. If Erin’s brain was working at a normal pace she might have realized that this was all Muriel had wanted out of this- get this off his chest, not explain or justify or even get an answer back. He seemed unconcerned with everything else and for some reason Erin felt that inspire a sharp, throbbing ache in her.

He sat back slightly, still watching, still a little flushed, but satisfied. The sudden realization he was pulling away finally kicked Erin into gear and she grabbed his hand in both of hers, stopping him from leaving. “I… _really_?” she sputtered stupidly.

He looked down for a second, his eyes averting and the flush staining his face intensified slightly but he seemed to be speaking with the same uncharacteristic confidence. “Since Tarske, I think. Since that night in the Steppe,” he said quietly. He looked back into the forest for a second before he leveled his gaze at her again and struggled a little for the words. “I wasn’t going to say it. It seemed… cruel… with everything that we’re facing. With what could happen to us tomorrow… “ He let her hold his hand in both of hers, rubbing one large thumb against her knuckles gently. “But then… you’ve always been honest with me, even when I didn’t want to hear it. I wanted you to know, so that no matter what comes… No matter what he throws at us, you’ll know where I stand.” He pulled her hands to his chest and pressed them there tightly, and the pressure felt reassuring against his bare skin, where one or two buttons on his shirt had been undone in the interest of comfort a few hours ago.

Horrifyingly, Erin felt a sizable lump in her throat and her eyes burned with sudden emotion at the gentle but completely accepting look on his face. She realized he wasn’t even looking for reciprocation. He had simply come to deliver a fact during the last chance they would have before facing the Devil himself. His brow knitted at the look on her face as she tried to choke down her tears before they could spill down her red face. She swore softly. “I’ve been in love with you _so_ long,” she managed, her voice choked and much softer than normal. “But you were so hurt from other people, I was afraid of doing more damage and then there was never a right time with all that’s happened.”

When she finally brought her eyes back up he was looking more flustered and emotive than he had been this whole time. “Are you serious?” he asked, so incredulously that he had to avert his eyes.

“That first night in your hut… I cleaned your wounds, you told me a little about your scars. Even that far back… I just wanted to protect you, to show you that not every human interaction had to be painful.” She hung her head a little, still weirdly caught between laughing and choking back more of some emotion she couldn’t quite place. “By the time we left Vesuvia, I already knew…”

He brought his free hand up slowly- so _incredibly_ slowly that the second dragged on _forever_ \- before he slotted his palm gently against her jawbone and cupped the side of her face with one large, warm hand. Impatient, impulsive, and headstrong as always, she leaned in to close the distance before he did and sealed her lips to his, kissing him fiercely and with a fiery amount of hunger. Muriel moved into her, kissing back just as hard another second later, still gripping her hands to his overwarm chest.

“Tomorrow…” she said finally, pulling back and breathing slightly heavier than perhaps their activities warranted. “We’ll deal with… everything. But then… we’ll be together.”

He stared at her numbly for a second, hardly able to process this whole thing… his own desire to say what he felt was one thing, but the implications of this now went so much further. It was overwhelming but instead of stress and anxiety there was nothing but a delirious joy and a renewed fire to crush Lucio’s narcissistic, destructive conquest. There was a split second of tension- they looked at each other, obviously thinking the same thing- and then it snapped. Erin tangled her hands around Muriel’s neck, curling her fingers tightly in his slightly wild hair, wrenching him in as he crushed their lips together and leaned into it so heavily, Erin was nearly laid flat. There were still a few hours until the charge and without speaking they were both content to spend them like this, whatever hell eventually came to greet them.


End file.
